I am sad to inform you that
the NSR was Discontinued here in Japan for all road going models from
the end of the year 1999. No more new NSR's anymore. I was shocked myself
to hear that news and also disappointed with Honda for giving up on
the NSR. But it seems Honda was having difficulty with new legislation
here in Japan banning most two cycle vehicles. Pollution is growing
at an alarming rate so the government came up with new laws. So Honda
stopped making those beautiful NSR's. There are still plenty of used
NSR's roaming the streets and more than enough in motorbike shops. Unfortunately
( for future NSR buyers ) the price has risen about 20 to 30 percent
because no more new NSR's are being built. This is good news for people
who have NSR's now like myself but not such good news for people looking
to get a nice used NSR model. Don't despair though. There are still
lot's of bargains around. You just need to be more patient. Some shops
are selling used SP models for the same price as a new model, especially
in the Rothmans and Repsol colors. I actually saw one shop in Tokyo
selling a used but mint condition Repsol colored 250 SP for 980,000
Yen. The list price for this bike was 800,000 when it was new. I think
this is a little over priced in my opinion but who knows what will happen
in the future now that the last NSR's have been made. Honda will of
course continue selling their race bikes. The RS 125, RS 250, NSR 500V
and the all new NSR Mini which will keep mini bike racers happy.

Another reason I feel the
NSR was discontinued is because there are almost no new buyers for the
new models. When they were first released 13 years ago they were meant
to be for younger riders who didn't have the license to ride a bigger
bike. ( Over 400 c.c.'s in Japan ) Most of these riders have grown up
now , gotten their licenses and moved on to bigger bikes. There are
still a few hard core riders and also fans of the GP races. In reality
now that era of motorcycles has almost died out in Japan now. Rarely
do you see the Racer Replicas driving around compared to your American
style, Cafe racers , TW's , Dual purpose and other odd motorbikes. Sad
to say but kids aren't interested in putting down that kind of money
for a replica racer like the NSR , TZR or the RGV. It would have killed
the performance and image of the bike had Honda decide to come up with
some sort of anti-pollution muffler like they did with the smaller 50
c.c. scooters. I will definitely miss the NSR but at least I have myself
one of these interesting machines and a piece of motorcycle history.
Good luck getting your hands on an NSR before they are all gone forever.